US CMA Syllabus 2025 Part 1 & 2 - Subject-wise Syllabus, Exam Pattern
US CMA Syllabus 2025: ICMA has released the US CMA 2025 syllabus through its official website. Candidates taking US CMA 2025 are advised to go through the US CMA course syllabus to plan their preparations. The US CMA syllabus 2025 has been released for both Part 1 and Part 2. The syllabus of US CMA comprises important topics and areas that will be covered in the exam. It will also give candidates an idea about which topics to focus on the most. Along with the US CMA syllabus 2025, candidates are also advised to go through the exam pattern specified by authorities. Read on to find detailed information on CMA US syllabus for Part 1 and 2, exam pattern and other related topics.
- US CMA Subjects
- US CMA Syllabus 2025
- US CMA Exam Pattern 2025
US CMA Subjects
Given below is the list of CMA US subjects contained in the syllabus.
| Part | Topic | Percentage |
| CMA USA Part 1 Syllabus: Financial Planning, Performance, and Analytics Syllabus | External Financial Reporting Decisions | 15% |
| Planning, Budgeting, and Forecasting | 20% | |
| Performance Management | 20% | |
| Cost Management | 15% | |
| Internal Controls | 15% | |
| Technology and Analytics | 15% | |
| CMA USA Part 2 Syllabus: Strategic Financial Management | Financial Statement Analysis | 20% |
| Corporate Finance | 20% | |
| Business Decision Analysis | 25% | |
| Enterprise Risk Management | 10% | |
| Capital Investment Decisions | 10% | |
| Professional Ethics | 15% |
US CMA Syllabus 2025
The syllabus of US CMA 2025 has been given below in table format. The left column comprises the main topics or subject and the right column contains the sub topics. The detailed CMA USA Syllabus for both Part 1 and Part 2 has been given below:
US CMA Part 1 Syllabus- Financial Planning, Performance, and Analytics
A. External Financial Reporting Decisions (Levels A, B, and C) | 1. Financial statements a. Balance sheet b. Income statement c. Statement of changes in equity d. Statement of cash flows e. Integrated reporting | |
2. Recognition, measurement, valuation, and disclosure a. Asset valuation b. Valuation of liabilities c. Equity transactions d. Revenue recognition e. Income measurement f. Major differences between U.S. GAAP and IFRS | ||
B. Planning, Budgeting, and Forecasting (Levels A, B, and C) | 1. Strategic planning a. Analysis of external and internal factors affecting strategy b. Long-term mission and goals c. Alignment of tactics with long-term strategic goals d. Strategic planning models and analytical techniques e. Characteristics of a successful strategic planning process | |
2. Budgeting concepts a. Operations and performance goals b. Characteristics of a successful budget process c. Resource allocation d. Other budgeting concepts | ||
3. Forecasting techniques a. Regression analysis b. Learning curve analysis c. Expected value | ||
4. Budgeting methodologies a. Annual business plans (master budgets) b. Project budgeting c. Activity-based budgeting d. Zero-based budgeting e. Continuous (rolling) budgets f. Flexible budgeting | ||
5. Annual profit plan and supporting schedules a. Operational budgets b. Financial budgets c. Capital budgets | ||
6. Top-level planning and analysis a. Pro forma income b. Financial statement projections c. Cash flow projections | ||
C. Performance Management (Levels A, B, and C) | 1. Cost and variance measures a. Comparison of actual to planned results b. Use of flexible budgets to analyse performance c. Management by exception d. Use of standard cost systems e. Analysis of variation from standard cost expectations | |
2. Responsibility centers and reporting segments a. Types of responsibility centers b. Transfer pricing c. Reporting of organizational segments | ||
3. Performance measures a. Product profitability analysis b. Business unit profitability analysis c. Customer profitability analysis d. Return on investment e. Residual income f. Investment base issues g. Key performance indicators (KPIs) h. Balanced scorecard | ||
D. Cost Management (Levels A, B, and C) | 1. Measurement concepts a. Cost behavior and cost objects b. Actual and normal costs c. Standard costs d. Absorption (full) costing e. Variable (direct) costing f. Joint and by-product costing | |
2. Costing systems a. Job order costing b. Process costing c. Activity-based costing d. Life-cycle costing | ||
3. Overhead costs a. Fixed and variable overhead expenses b. Plant-wide vs. departmental overhead c. Determination of allocation base d. Allocation of service department costs | ||
4. Supply chain management a. Lean resource management techniques b. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) c. Theory of Constraints d. Capacity management and analysis | ||
5. Business process improvement a. Value chain analysis b. Value-added concepts c. Process analysis, redesign, and standardization d. Activity-based management e. Continuous improvement concepts f. Best practice analysis g. Cost of quality analysis h. Efficient accounting processes | ||
E. Internal Controls (Levels A, B, and C) | 1. Governance, risk, and compliance a. Internal control structure and management philosophy b. Internal control policies for safeguarding and assurance c. Internal control risk d. Corporate governance e. External audit requirements | |
2. System controls and security measures a. General accounting system controls b. Application and transaction controls c. Network controls d. Backup controls e. Business continuity planning | ||
F. Technology and Analytics (Levels A, B, and C) | 1. Information systems a. Accounting information systems b. Enterprise resource planning systems c. Enterprise performance management systems | |
2. Data governance a. Data policies and procedures b. Life cycle of data c. Controls against security breaches | ||
3. Technology-enabled finance transformation a. System development life cycle b. Process automation c. Innovative applications | ||
4. Data analytics a. Business intelligence b. Data mining c. Analytic tools d. Data visualization | ||
US CMA Part 2 Strategic Financial Management
A. Financial Statement Analysis (Levels A, B, and C) | 1. Basic financial statement analysis a. Common size financial statements b. Common base year financial statements | |
2. Financial ratios a. Liquidity b. Leverage c. Activity d. Profitability e. Market | ||
3. Profitability analysis a. Income measurement analysis b. Revenue analysis c. Cost of sales analysis d. Expense analysis e. Variation analysis | ||
4. Special issues a. Impact of foreign operations b. Effects of changing prices and inflation c. Impact of changes in accounting treatment d. Accounting and economic concepts of value and income e. Earnings quality | ||
B. Corporate Finance (Levels A, B, and C) | 1. Risk and return a. Calculating return b. Types of risk c. Relationship between risk and return | |
2. Long-term financial management a. Term structure of interest rates b. Types of financial instruments c. Cost of capital d. Valuation of financial instruments | ||
3. Raising capital a. Financial markets and regulation b. Market efficiency c. Financial institutions d. Initial and secondary public offerings e. Dividend policy and share repurchases f. Lease financing | ||
4. Working capital management a. Working capital terminology b. Cash management c. Marketable securities management d. Accounts receivable management e. Inventory management f. Types of short-term credit g. Short-term credit management | ||
5. Corporate restructuring a. Mergers and acquisitions b. Other forms of restructuring | ||
6. International finance a. Fixed, flexible, and floating exchange rates b. Managing transaction exposure c. Financing international trade | ||
C. Decision Analysis (Levels A, B, and C) | 1. Cost/volume/profit analysis a. Breakeven analysis b. Profit performance and alternative operating levels c. Analysis of multiple products | |
2. Marginal analysis a. Sunk costs, opportunity costs, and other related concepts b. Marginal costs and marginal revenue c. Special orders and pricing d. Make vs. buy e. Sell or process further f. Add or drop a segment g. Capacity considerations | ||
3. Pricing a. Pricing methodologies b. Target costing c. Elasticity of demand d. Product life-cycle considerations e. Market structure considerations | ||
D. Risk Management (Levels A, B, and C) | 1. Enterprise risk a. Types of risk b. Risk identification and assessment c. Risk mitigation strategies d. Managing risk | |
E. Investment Decisions (Levels A, B, and C) | 1. Capital budgeting process a. Stages of capital budgeting b. Incremental cash flows c. Income tax considerations d. Evaluating uncertainty | |
2. Capital investment analysis methods a. Net present value b. Internal rate of return c. Payback d. Comparison of investment analysis methods | ||
F. Professional Ethics (Levels A, B, and C) | 1. Business ethics a. Moral philosophies and values b. Ethical decision making | |
Also check -
- US Certified Management Accountant (CMA) by Edupristine
- CMA Certification
- How to Become a Certified Management Accountant
US CMA Exam Pattern 2025
Apart from the syllabus, candidates must check the exam pattern of US CMA 2025. Getting an idea about how the exam will be conducted is a good way to start your preparation. The CMA exam will be held in virtual mode at global test centres of ICMA. Detailed information on US CMA exam pattern 2025 has been given below:
US CMA 2025 Exam Pattern
Name of Subjects | Part 1: Financial Planning, Performance, and Analytics Part 2: Strategic Financial Management |
Duration of the exam | (4 Hours) Financial Planning, Performance, and Analytics |
Number of Questions | 102: Financial Planning, Performance, and Analytics |
Type of Questions | 100 MCQs and 2 (30 minute) essays |
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
There are two papers in US CMA - Part 1 and Part 2
A total of 102 questions are asked in the US CMA exam.
There are 100 multiple choice questions and two 30 minute essays in US CMA 2025.
The duration of the US CMA exam is four hours.
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